I began my legal career working for SCCLA’s first president, Al Lum, in 1985 and it was through Al that I was introduced to the organization. At that time, George King (now a Federal District Court Judge) was President. The following year, I was recruited by Brian Sun (famed Campaigngate (Johnnie Chung) and Spygate (Wen Ho Lee) lawyer) to serve on the SCCLA Board. Brian and I first met in 1984 when he was with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and I was working for U.S. District Court Judge Consuelo B. Marshall. I served on the Board for three years before being installed as President in 1989. During that time (1986 - 1989), I observed the membership becoming more diverse in practice and in younger age.

When I joined the SCCLA Board in 1986, the President did most of the work. The President, in addition to conducting monthly meetings, was also responsible for producing and distributing the monthly newsletter, organizing the annual installation dinner, and mobilizing the membership. In addition to the annual installation dinner, we had Marco Polo Night, Tom Loo Summer Party, and the Chinatown Service Center Pro Bono Clinic. Although I served one year as President, I saw my commitment through several years working to make the organization more meaningful to the changing membership, provide greater input and participation from the membership, and give SCCLA a visible presence outside the Chinese-American lawyer community. Permanent committees were formed to help alleviate the workload of the President while new committees were created to take on new projects. For the first time, the newsletter was handled by a committee. David Tseng (now a member of the White House staff as Staff Director and Senior Advisor to the National Economic Council) was recruited to serve on the Board and chaired the first Newsletter Committee. David created the publication and distribution procedures we still follow today. Under Stewart Kwoh’s (President and Executive Director for the Asian Pacific American Legal Center) leadership, many of the Pro Bono and free legal services to the Asian Pacific Community have been coordinated and are now being provided by the Legal Center. Robert Kwan (founding member of the Chinese American Historical Society and Friends of the Chinese American Museum) set up the Judicial Public Appointments Committee including the first “So You Want To Be A Judge” seminar, and formalized SCCLA’s endorsement process. Karen Wong (now a partner at the Wall Street firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCoy and their Mergers and Acquisitions guru) headed the Scholarship Committee that devised ways to increase the number of scholarships given annually. Curtis Jung (the original “party-animal” and part-time Hollywood producer of “Aloha from LA”) was recruited to head-up the Social Committee to “spice-up” our events. He created a good mix of fun and business, including the Holiday Reception that doubled as a fundraiser for the Christmas Food Basket Program. Dolly Gee (nominated for the Federal Bench) kept us focused on the important issues of the day by often authoring SCCLA position papers and editorials, including an occasional Amicus Brief. She also served as SCCLA’s link to the other Asian Bar organizations through The Joint Concerns Committee. Carolyn Yee (before going on to greater fame by marrying Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Bill Lann Lee) spearheaded SCCLA’s involvement and efforts in the California Minority Demonstration Program and the ABA’s Minority Counsel Program which encouraged major Fortune 500 companies to refer business to minority owned law firms.

As a board, we began attending and buying tables at other bar dinners and community events, i.e., John Langston, MABA, KABA, JABA, PABA, and LACBA installation dinners. One year I asked each board member to serve on one of the LACBA standing committees after receiving a commitment from then LACBA bar President, Margaret Morrow, to appoint our members if I provided her with a list. In addition to myself, other SCCLA Presidents have gone on to serve on the Board of Trustees for the Los Angeles County Bar Association (Pam Chin, Dolly Gee, Robert Kwan, Christopher Leong, Brian Sun, Roberta Yang, William Tan).

There were several highlights during my years with the SCCLA Board, one was serving as co-counsel with Al Lum and Stewart Kwoh on the United States of America v. The City of Los Angeles lawsuit in 1986. The lawsuit was initially filed by the United States Justice Department to assert the voting rights of Hispanic voters and ultimately led to the creation of a predominately Hispanic council district - The First Council District. The Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) intervened in the lawsuit to protect the voting rights and interests of Hispanics and African Americans. Consequently, SCCLA sought intervention to protect the rights and interests of Asian Pacific Americans. The other highlight was starting the Christmas Food Basket Program after watching a news report one evening about two little boys from the Chinatown area who had called L.A.P.D. because they thought someone had stolen their Christmas tree and presents. But, in fact, their parents simply couldn’t afford to buy the boys a tree and presents. Originally my wife, Wanda, and I wanted to do a toy drive but instead decided that distributing food to needy families in the Chinatown area would be more meaningful. I remember doing fifty (50) families the first year and we are now doing two hundred fifty (250) families annually. Perhaps my proudest moment was watching my two sons Christopher (9) and Cameron (7), last year at the installation dinner, present The Lee Gum Low Presidential Scholarship which we established in honor of my late father.

From this rich legacy of SCCLA, many have gone on to prominence, fame or fortune. Some have become judges, some have become partners in law firms, while others have gone on to start organizations and/or to serve on other national, state or local boards. As we see the torch once again being passed to a new generation in this new millennium (from Al Lum to Justin Lum, from Vincent Chin to Wen Ho Lee), the journey to justice continues.